TWO COMMON BIRDS 



brought home by the outcry, try with piercing 

 shrieks to draw off the intruder. As long as 

 they think they are invisible the young birds 

 remain quite still, in the case of thrushes with 

 their feathers drawn tight and their beaks 

 pointing skywards, for in this attitude the spots 

 on their breasts and throats appear like lines, 

 and these lines make them very hard to see 

 among twigs, grass, and leaves. Very often this 

 saves them; they are overlooked by the foe, 

 and the enemy having gone on peace will reign 

 once more. The young ones are now scattered, 

 probably never to meet again, over an area 

 perhaps twenty yards square — ^how are the old 

 birds going to manage, for the little ones cannot 

 feed themselves yet? Well, that short flight 

 has worked great changes in the young birds. 

 While they were in the nest they sat quiet and 

 never made a soTuid except when the parents 

 were coming to them with food. Now they 

 keep up a plaintive and monotonous squeaking. 

 Steadily and persistently they squeak, full-fed 

 or hungry makes no difference, for they still 

 call. It is really their way of saying, ' Here 

 we are ! ' and by this means they let the old 

 birds know where to find them. Without 

 trouble or loss of time the old thrushes or 



53 



